The result of years of work by scholars from all over the world, "The UNESCO General History of Africa" reflects how the different peoples of Africa view their civilizations and shows the historical relationships between the various parts of the continent. Historical connections with other continents demonstrate Africa's contribution to the development of human civilization.
*Volumes available:
Vol. II: Ancient civilizations of Africa; Vol III: Africa from the seventh to the eleventh century; and, Vol VII: Africa under colonial domination, 1880-1935

Nubia's remote setting has not only lent it an air of mystery, but also isolated it from exploration. This book attempts to document some of the recent discovers about ancient Nubia, with its remarkable history, architecture, and culture. By doing so, the authors of the essays give us a picture of this rich, but unfamiliar, African legacy.

Discusses the Gorta Mor in 1840s Ireland, the famine in British-controlled Bengal in 1943, and the string of famines in Ethiopia in the late 20th century, and explores the concept that while famine can be caused by crop failures and weather conditions, famines are worsened by man-made choices such as politics and social and religious ideology.

In April 1994 up to a million people were slaughtered in Rwanda during a murderous campaign of horrifying efficiency.The ferocity of the killing and the cruelty inflicted on defenseless people has no comparison in modern times. Conspiracy to Murder is the story of how that genocide was planned. It reveals how, from as early as 1990, the political, military and administrative leadership of Rwanda became involved in planning the complete extermination of the Tutsi population. A vicious hate campaign filled the media, urging Hutus to kill; a network of roadblocks was devised to prevent any escape; civil-defense groups were established throughout the country, with eventually every third Hutu being armed; half a million machetes and other agricultural tools were imported, and 85 tons of munitions were distributed country-wide, in the year leading up to the genocide. In an outstanding example of investigative journalism, Linda Melvern reveals the full story behind the conspiracy, detailing the involvement of world governments whose responses ranged from complicity to apathy. She shows how the killers outmaneuvered the Security Council and led UN peacekeepers into a steady trap; how the French military trained the killers and how their 'humanitarian intervention' in June 1994 enabled many of those killers to escape justice; how the John Major government ignored warnings and then proceeded to mislead the British Parliament about what was really happening; how the US is still withholding wiretap and satellite evidence showing that the genocide had begun; and how significant was the knowledge of then Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

After being released from prison and winning South Africa's first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by fifty years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: Use the national rugby team, the Springboks--long an embodiment of white supremacist rule--to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup. The string of wins that followed not only defied the odds, but capped Mandela's miraculous effort to bring South Africans together in a hard-won, enduring bond.

Just over 50 years ago, several African countries drew up new constitutions that included additions such as the Protocol on the Rights of Women. Decades later, has constitutional reform brought gender equality to women in Africa? And what does gender equality mean in the everyday lives of women on the continent? The contributors to this volume provide insights into women’s rights in seven African countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. Each looks at the causes, context, and consequences of the struggle to uphold women’s rights. Their case studies illustrate property-grabbing in Malawi, women’s citizenship in Nigeria, and the rise of hate crimes and sexual violence against black lesbians in South Africa, among other issues.

With nearly 600 new entries and 1,000 updates, the second edition of this authoritative resource reflects the far-reaching changes the Middle East has undergone in recent years, making the work more relevant and more necessary than ever before. The set covers the modern history of the Middle East and North Africa, with major sections on Colonialism and Imperialism, the World Wars, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the United Nations involvement in the region. Each country in the region is reviewed, detailing its population, economy and government. With 3,000 nonpartisan articles written by specialists in anthropology, history, political science, religion and social sciences, this four-volume set is an indispensable tool.

A brilliant, original history of the spice trade—and the appetites that fueled it. It was in search of the fabled Spice Islands and their cloves that Magellan charted the first circumnavigation of the globe. Vasco da Gama sailed the dangerous waters around Africa to India on a quest for Christians—and spices. Columbus sought gold and pepper but found the New World. By the time these fifteenth- and sixteenth-century explorers set sail, the aromas of these savory, seductive seeds and powders had tempted the palates and imaginations of Europe for centuries. Spice: The History of a Temptation is a history of the spice trade told not in the conventional narrative of politics and economics, nor of conquest and colonization, but through the intimate human impulses that inspired and drove it. Here is an exploration of the centuries-old desire for spice in food, in medicine, in magic, in religion, and in sex—and of the allure of forbidden fruit lingering in the scents of cinnamon, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, mace, and clove. We follow spices back through time, through history, myth, archaeology, and literature. We see spices in all their diversity, lauded as love potions and aphrodisiacs, as panaceas and defenses against the plague.

Just 60 years after winning independence from British rule, India's economy is booming and the nation is fast becoming a leading global power. With a population of a billion people, India's society is as varied as its awe-inspiring landscape. Home to a dizzying array of languages, ethnic groups, beliefs, and lifestyles, India can seem overwhelming in its complexity. This book takes the lid off this cultural melting pot, showing how past events have shaped this diverse but unified nation, where tradition and modernity successfully coexist.

The Modern Middle East is a themed collection of translated sources covering official and private archives, the periodical press, memoirs, western journalists' and travellers' accounts, literature, and official reports. Each document is presented and put in its historical context by an expert, providing a highly useful resource for the study of the Middle East from 1700 to the present day. - ;The Modern Middle East is a collection of translated sources covering the period from 1700 to the present. Sources include official and private archives, the periodical press, memoirs, western journalists.

Delve into Central Asia's complex history to learn how the nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have evolved through the centuries to become cultural hotspots in recent years.

Discusses the sixteenth century roots of the lack of a unified Russian identity, the division between the gentry and the peasantry, and the widening gap in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries which led to revolution and continues to affect Russia today.

In Putin Country, Garrels crafts an intimate portrait of Middle Russia. We meet upwardly mobile professionals, impassioned activists who champion the rights of orphans and disabled children, and ostentatious mafiosi. We discover surprising subcultures, such as a vibrant underground gay community and a circle of determined Protestant evangelicals. And we watch doctors and teachers trying to cope with inescapable payoffs and institutionalized negligence. As Vladimir Putin tightens his grip on power and war in Ukraine leads to Western sanctions and a lower standard of living, the local population mingles belligerent nationalism with a deep ambivalence about their country's direction. Through it all, Garrels sympathetically charts an ongoing identity crisis. In the aftermath of the Soviet Union, what is Russia? What kind of pride and cohesion can it offer? Drawing on close friendships sustained over many years, Garrels explains why Putin commands the loyalty of so many Russians, even those who decry the abuses of power they regularly encounter. Correcting the misconceptions of Putin's supporters and critics alike, Garrels's portrait of Russia's silent majority is both essential and engaging reading at a time when cold war tensions are resurgent.

An analysis of the strategy and tactics of the Vietnamese general explains how he effectively countered French colonials and U.S. forces throughout two difficult conflicts by tapping the strength of his society's social fabric.

This lively and engaging text offers a panorama of modern Chinese history through compelling biographies of the famous and obscure. Spanning five hundred years, they include a Ming dynasty medical pioneer, a Qing dynasty courtesan, a nineteenth-century Hong Kong business leader, a Manchu princess, an arsenal manager, a woman soldier, and a young maid in contemporary Beijing. Through the lives of these diverse people, readers will gain an understanding of the complex questions of modern Chinese history: What did it mean to be Chinese, and how did that change over time? How was learning encouraged and directed in imperial and post-imperial China? Was it possible to challenge entrenched gender roles? What effects did European imperialism have on Chinese lives? How did ordinary Chinese experience the warfare and political upheaval of twentieth-century China? What is the nature of the gap between urban and rural China in the post-Mao years? These richly researched biographies are written in an accessible and appealing style that will engage all readers interested in modern China.

As 1945 opened, America was on surprisingly congenial terms with China's Communist rebels--their soldiers treated their American counterparts as heroes, rescuing airmen shot down over enemy territory. Chinese leaders talked of a future in which American money and technology would help lift China out of poverty. Mao Zedong himself held friendly meetings with U.S. emissaries, vowing to them his intention of establishing an American-style democracy in China. By year's end, however, cordiality had been replaced by chilly hostility and distrust. Chinese Communist soldiers were setting ambushes for American marines in north China; Communist newspapers were portraying the United States as an implacable imperialist enemy; civil war in China was erupting. The pattern was set for a quarter century of almost total Sino-American mistrust, with the devastating wars in Korea and Vietnam among the consequences. Richard Bernstein here tells the incredible story of that year's sea change, brilliantly analyzing its many components, from ferocious infighting among U.S. diplomats, military leaders, and opinion makers to the complex relations between Mao and his patron, Stalin.

Financial Times Asia editor David Pilling presents a fresh vision of Japan, drawing on his own deep experience, as well as observations from a cross section of Japanese citizenry, including novelist Haruki Murakami, former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, industrialists and bankers, activists and artists, teenagers and octogenarians. Through their voices, Pilling captures the dynamism and diversity of contemporary Japan.

Native identity is usually associated with a particular place. But what if that place is the ocean? Once Were Pacific explores this question as it considers how Māori and other Pacific peoples frame their connection to the ocean, to New Zealand, and to each other through various creative works. Māori scholar Alice Te Punga Somerville shows how and when Māori and other Pacific peoples articulate their ancestral history as migratory seafarers, drawing their identity not only from land but also from water. Although Māori are ethnically Polynesian, and Aotearoa New Zealand is clearly a part of the Pacific region, in New Zealand the terms “Māori” and “Pacific” are colloquially applied to two distinct communities: Māori are Indigenous, and “Pacific” refers to migrant communities from elsewhere in the region. Asking how this distinction might blur historical and contemporary connections, Te Punga Somerville interrogates the relationship between indigeneity, migration, and diaspora, focusing on texts: poetry, fiction, theater, film, and music, viewed alongside historical instances of performance, journalism, and scholarship. In this sustained treatment of the Māori diaspora, Te Punga Somerville provides the first critical analysis of relationships between Indigenous and migrant communities in New Zealand.

The Road to Botany Bay, first published in 1987 and considered a classic in the field of cultural and historical geography, examines the poetic constitution of colonial society. Through a far-reaching exploration of Australia’s mapping, narrative description, early urbanism, and bush mythology, Paul Carter exposes the mythopoetic mechanisms of empire. A powerfully written account of the ways in which language, history, and geography influenced the territorial theater of nineteenth-century imperialism, the book is also a call to think, write, and live differently.

This is a broad-ranging look at the lands and people and the cities of Australia and New Zealand; it also presents their common heritage as former British colonies and their differences as diverse nations.

Chronicles the history of New Zealand and the South Pacific islands, from the formation of the islands millions of years ago to the twenty-first century, and includes coverage of cultural topics, historical maps, a chronology, a gazetteer, and other resources for visitors.

Contains full text from more than 750 history reference books and encyclopedias, and cover-to-cover full text from nearly 60 history magazines. Also contains 58,000 historical documents; 43,000 biographies of historical figures; more than 12,000 historical photos and maps; and 87 hours of historical film and video.

This sweeping series spans thousands of years of history and features fantastic architectural monuments such as the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal in India, and valuable cultural sites like the majestic Hindu temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Students will also get a firsthand look at natural wonders such as Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines. Through wonderful footage of World Heritage Sites as identified by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization) for their lasting value to humanity, students will gain a unique understanding and appreciation of Asia's rich and diverse history.

Filmed on location in Turkey, the Balkans, Greece, and the Middle East, this three-part series recounts the epic story of one of the largest and most influential empires in history, from its origins in the 13th century through to its final throes on the battlefields of World War I. Journalist Rageh Omaar along with several academic experts examines political, social, and religious aspects of the Ottoman Empire’s spread, revealing the antecedents of many important yet unresolved issues confronting the Muslim world today.

Chronicles the life of Gandhi beginning with his political activities in South Africa during the late 1890's and ending with his assassination at the hands of a Hindu extremist in 1948. Shows the development of his philosophy of non-violence as he leads the people of India to independence from the British.

Based on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a five-star-hotel manager who uses his wits and persuasion in striving to save more than 1,200 Tutsis and Hutus from being massacred by the Interahamwe militia during the 1994 Rwandan conflict.

Over a period of seven months in 2012, a group of Syrian women created video diaries to let the world know what living under Bashar al-Assad’s rule is like. In this documentary, the six tell how revolution and war transformed their lives. “At first I was for the reforms,” says Sima. “When did I change my mind? When there was blood.” Although most support the anti-government revolt and have paid for that stance—Ayat’s house was bombed, Khawla was imprisoned—Yara, a reporter for the official news agency SANA, explains why she still supports the regime. Viewers also meet Maria, a member of the Christian opposition, and Maya, a filmmaker who is deeply involved in the pro-democracy movement.

With its sun-bleached shores and stunning islands, the Indian Ocean washes some of the most beautiful locations on the planet. But the world’s third largest body of water is also crucial to the planet’s future—politically, economically, and environmentally. From pirates off the coast of Somalia to the Tamils of Sri Lanka and the rise of militant Islam in Yemen and Sumatra, the Indian Ocean touches places of extreme volatility while also becoming a global trade hub. In this six-part series, Simon Reeve brings his unique brand of adventure journalism to a fascinating and increasingly important region as he engages in the lives and struggles of its varied coastal peoples.

Content includes video lectures, timelines, full-text primary sources, thematic outlines, and multimedia presentations on the people, empires, and major events that impacted the different regions of Asia.

This site features information about Marco Polo's travels throughout the East. It includes interactive maps with details about the people and places he explored created by Vanderbilt University's Dept. of French and Italian.

Content includes essays, multimedia, image gallery, maps, and timelines, concerning the "turbulent history of challenges, tragedies, and triumphs" of African and African Diaspora cultures. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.